If weekend nights are the only times you go out for a good time, you might be missing out, especially when AnQi over at South Coast Plaza has unleashed Fashionably Early Wednesdays. These weekly bashes are partner to their Fashionably Late Fridays which celebrate good drinks, food, and company. The restaurant itself is laid out with several areas that mimic a lounge feeling so it seems only natural to incorporate other elements throughout the week. During this mid-week nights, experience not only their cocktails and bites but also the pulses from a live DJ spinning downtempo lounge music. We were invited to preview some of AnQi's offerings during these evenings, and it seems like a desirable place to bring a group together to.

1035 University Ave, Unit 105, Honolulu, HI 96826
Pricing - $$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Breakfast, Brunch
www.thenookhonolulu.com

If the neighborhood is buzzing about a brunch spot, you better believe that we have to check it out. In this case, the neighborhood was not our own but knowing a few locals sure helped in spotting out a joint in Honolulu that had the nearby folks curious. The nook apparently replaced another local favorite but has found its way into the hearts of others. Celebrating local and seasonal ingredients with a commitment to getting their eggs, milk, produce, and meat from Hawaiian farmers, this restaurant piqued our interest. When we arrived, there was already a long wait out the door but luckily, our friend's friends had already snagged a table early. Time to check out what made this brunch spot a coveted restaurant.

The buzzwords in restaurants and the food industry these days are almost overwhelming. Catchphrases meant to draw consumers in are thrown around to the point of near irrelevance. I have always had some beef with the way that "natural" and "farm to table" have morphed (among other keywords and phrases) into very much meaningless adjectives. Is not most of the food we eat farm to table, in some sense? The food had to grow from somewhere after all. Well, in comes The North Left with their "Farm to Forage" dinners every week. Wait? It's not "farm to table" in the name? No, rather, these are dinners based on ingredients sourced from the farms and/or foraging whether via farmers' markets or from one's own foraging and growing means. Neat, we thought! Let's get some of that action! On July 2nd, we did just that (by invitation) and were blown away with the dishes we had that evening.

Tired of the typical wine pairing dinner that seems to inundate your event calendar? Ready to hop into a change of pace? How about a beer pairing? With the influx of craft breweries and craft beer enthusiasts, it was only a matter of time before beer found its way onto the dinner table, pair to complementary dishes. Del Frisco's Grille in Irvine picked up on this trend fairly quickly and started hosting four-course beer pairing dinners in March of this year, featuring a single brewery at a time and building an impressive menu to accompany each flavor profile. I was invited to join many other curious folks for June's beer dinner (they take place once a month) which would showcase local Golden Road Brewery and Executive Chef Sarah Daniels' take on their notes; the whole lot of us were in for quite the treat that night, and for a mere $35 per person each time, the experience was a steal!

The OC Fair 2015 begins tomorrow so get your stretchy pants and sunscreen on! This year, celebrate with everyone at the fair in its 125th anniversary celebration. Quite the feat! This year's theme is "One Big Party" as everyone rejoices the fair since its inception in 1889. What started as a horse race has turned into a 23-day long festival with games, live entertainment, food, competitions, and loads of fun in addition to celebrating California produce. Check out more on the history here! I'm personally looking forward to seeing the Best Of food competition entries, especially the amazing structures that the cake submissions turn out. Those are quite impressive themselves. If you're looking for foodstuffs, there is a guide out online you can browse through. And if you haven't made plans to attend yet, there are two tickets waiting to be won in this post!

Brunch is serious business for we who live in Orange County, so when the gorgeous Fig & Olive at Fashion Island in Newport Beach scratches that itch with both Saturday and Sunday options, you need to listen. As if the restaurant's perfectly planned and decorated interior was not enough to lure you into its company, they added in a "Weekend Riviera Brunch" on the weekends that will make you kick back and enjoy a leisurely time on the terrace. Available in the naturally-lit space outdoors with the extra perk of giving families one complimentary kids' meal per reservation, this brunch buffet comes at a modest price of $24 per person. Convinced yet? We were invited one typically beautiful southern California day to partake in the buffet and came away impressed by the value and quality of Fig & Olive's weekend offering so here come the tantalizing pictures...

Has it already been one year since ADYA opened its doors at the Anaheim Packing House? The time difference from when the packing house was announced to when it opened made its first year of operation fly by without much fanfare. After all, Orange County knew about the plans many years before its execution. As each of the eateries inside start to celebrate their first anniversary, we applaud their making it through the first year of business. Opening any business is difficult enough but restaurants tend to run into many complications so a big congratulations to ADYA and Chef Shachi Mehra for hitting this milestone! We have always enjoyed her food on our multiple visits so were excited to join her and others for a celebratory dinner one evening.